Family Group Condemns Doctors' Resolution as 'Pro-Gay'

(CNSNews.com) - A resolution by a national organization of family doctors to support adoption rights for same-sex parents runs contrary to the long-term best interests of children, a spokesman for a family policy group said.

The American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), a medical organization with 93,500 members, supported a resolution during a three-day meeting this week at a convention in San Diego to approve domestic partner benefits.

Members also voted in favor of a compromise of resolutions that called for endorsement of homosexual adoption.

Peter Sprigg, director of cultural studies with the Family Research Council, condemned the resolution as the work of homosexual activism in the AAFP.

"We know that the most safe and nurturing environment for any child is to be with a mother and father who are married to one another, so I would think adoption policy would be geared to maximizing the chance of a child being adopted by a married mother and father, rather than endorsing any alternatives to that," Sprigg said.

"They always say it's for the well-being of children, but this type of policy is always motivated by gay activists," he said.

Warren A. Jones, president of AAFP, said the resolution was the result of a compromise. After discussion, the AAFP congress of delegates voted in favor of condensing various resolutions into one resolution to help advocate for children, "regardless of their parents' sexual orientation," he said.

"We're not discussing a lifestyle or a sexual orientation at all," Jones said. "That's mentioned in there to insure that there is an inclusion, but that is not the intent of the policy."

The intent of the policy as written by the reference committee and approved by the congress - the AAFP's highest decision-making body - "is for the well-being of children," he stressed.

The final resolution called on the AAFP to "establish policy and be supportive of legislation which promotes a safe and nurturing environment, including psychological and legal security, for all children, including those of adoptive parents, regardless of the parents' sexual orientation."

"This is a policy that has a lot more beneficial effects for children and for people who want to provide for them, than negative effects for people who might want to serve a particular agenda," Jones said.

"When we look at the fact that there are so many people in our nation who don't have the security of a warm and protective environment, who don't have nurturing homes, that's our focus," he said.

In 1996, the AAFP endorsed a broad definition of family as "a group of individuals with a legal, genetic or emotional relationship." The organization reaffirmed that definition again in 1997, Jones said.

But Sprigg said he was concerned that physicians may be allowing their own self-interest to get in the way of the child's best interest.

"They may be encouraged to support resolutions like this with the thought that they will expand the scope of health insurance coverage, and therefore make it more likely that they'll be reimbursed for whatever services they may provide to children or adults in this situation," Sprigg said.

"But I think they should look at the long-term best interests of the children, which is not served by being raised in a homosexual household," he said.

AAFP members opposed to homosexual adoptions called into question the research used to support same sex adoptions, a report by the AAFP said. Members also described the resolutions as social engineering beyond the scope of the academy, it said.